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THE 



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HEA^IEA^ 



REVOLUTIONARY ELEMENTS 



OP THE REBELLION, 



AND OF THE 



ASPECT OF RECONSTRUCTION; 



WITH A PLAN TO RESTORE HARMONY BETWEEN THE TWO RACES 
IN THE SOUTHERN STATES. 



BY A. COJ-iOREr> 'M.A.N. 



BROOKLYN, L. I. 

OCTOBEK 1868. 




Class 


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THE 



HE^IE 



OF THE 



REVOLUTIONARY ELEMENTS 



OP THE REBELLION, 



AND OP THE 



ASPECT OF RECONSTRUCTION ; 



WITH A PLAN TO RESTOEE HARMONY BETWEEN THE TWO RACES 
IN THE SOUTHERN STATES. 



BY A. COLORED IVIAN. 



Le.w\'?-. H, w^inifTi, 




BROOKLYN, L. I. 
October 1868. 



E U^ 



To the People of the United States. 



The design of the Review, as indicated bj its title, is to note 
with care the new birth of the Republic and to bring the colored 
people into the foreground where they may be seen as the advocates 
of the union between the two races, and upon the basis that will 
secure freedom and elevation on one hand and peace and good-will 
on the other. 

But while it may be right that the colored people should stand 
back until the position for them is established through the genius 
and the magnanimity of the dominant race, yet the sublimity of the 
work, to build up the 'Republic with the new materials at hand, 
and the necessity of testing their skill and usefulness in the new 
field where the destiny of the nation has placed them, will fully 
justify the attempt to create such ideas in the history of the times 
as will make a profound impression in their favor in the minds of 
the American people. As the time has arrived to redeem the 
" solemn pledge" of fidelity made to the friends who first led the 
author into the mission, and the fact that the purpose of the declar- 
ation as written contained the principles which aimed at the eleva- 
tion of the colored people of the United States, it will be sufficient to 
strip it of all assumption and at the same time show the grandeur of 
the subject, and the overwhelming effect that will follow from the 
development of the plan for the accomplishment of that object. 
Viewing it at that time as the initiative to the reformation in the 
institutions that were organized for the management of the philan- 
thropy of the nation, and make the result redound to the glory of 
the American people by the elevation of the proscribed race of the 
country, it will present a feature sufficiently grand to command the 
approbation it will aim to secure by the publication of this work. 

If the philanthropists and the statesmen were guided by the 
spirit of justice in the attempts to represent the colored man at any 
time in the history of the country previous to the war, or if they 
had a clear conception of the requirements of the nation, there 
would have been no necessity for the efforts made by me to overturn 
the policy by which they were governed until the solution of the 



g^'veral <lUL*^tioIls were reached by the Rebellion. But the fact that 
throuijh thfir apathy or want of appreciation, the people of the 
I'uitetl States lost the opi)ortunity to realize the benefit of the plan 
written by the colored man to t^hield the country from civil war, 
and the fact that it*; existence was known to a leading member in 
the Cabinet and to others in Congress, and was resorted to at the 
eleventh h.-ur to conciliate the border States, will make it an im- 
portant feature in the etiorts to establish the position for the repre- 
reeentative men »>f my race. 

In rising to the surface from the dei)th where the author was 
burieil by tlu^se who were struggling to occupy the position they 
were umjualitied to till, the first tluty is to proclaim the solemn fact 
that tlie time has come to assume the duty and secure a general 
ruo«»gnition of the mission in the name of his race and country. It 
will Ix* sustained by the magnitude of the work that has been 
accomplished for that purpose, and to make up a record sufiiciently 
brilliant to maintain the integrity of the projector of the revolution 
that was designed to sweep out of existence the powerful but useless 
benevolent institutions that stood in the way to control the sympathy 
of the public in behalf of the colored people, without confemng 
ujMjn thetii any corresj»onding benefit, AVhile the ulterior object 
of tliis grand movement was hid from the ])ul)lic, yet it was fully 
kiiown to the lea<ling managers, who made the most decided efforts 
to shield themselves from the consecjuences of its development, but 
BA they have lost the power to coniiiiand the situation, it is impor- 
tant that the result should be announced as tlie first victory of the 
pen of the colored man over the genius of the dominant class ! 

It wart the bjisis of the ]ilan for the extinction of the "peculiar 
inj^titution of the Southeni States," as it will l)e seen by the exposi- 
tion of the secret history of the efforts to ins]>ire prominent men of 
the two sections <jf the c<»uiitry with the spirit adc(piate for the ac- 
ooinplishinent of the work with the agency of Congress, and thereby 
wive it from the terrible civil war it has undergone. But in spite 
of their brilliant intellect in other things, yet, in this field of labor 
they were not <»idy jMjwerless in the attempt to stay it, but there are 
Contingencies that must be i.rnvide«l for with other remedies than 
tlione inilicated in any of the jdans for the restoration of the Union. 
**A» one horn in due seiii^on" to lalxu- in ilu; name of the colored 
jM-oph* without exciting the sensibility of the dominant race, it is 



necessary that the claims upon the attention of all should be estab- 
lished free from any party proclivity, and without concealing the 
ulterior purpose. To this end, the plan will be submitted with the 
details indicating its ramifications, and with the proof of the inflex- 
ible integrity with which the mission has been sustained it will 
carry with it sufficient weight to justify the dedication of this work 
to the people of the United States by 

Their obedient servant, 

L. H. PUTNAM. 

Brooklyn, L. I., Aj^ril 13, 1868. 



6 
CHAP. I. 

The Kevolutionaey Elements of the Rebellion carefully 

CoNSroERED, 

As notbins? can be submitted to the country, tbat ought to com- 
mand a "reater degree of attention than the complications that have 
followed the measures for the adjustment and for the restoration of 
the union, it is important that the subject should be carefully con- 
sidered from the necessities of the general knowledge and the har- 
mony that should prevail in the minds of the people of the two sec- 
tions. For while the w^ork for the political regeneration of the 
Southern States has been carried forward with the greatest vigor, 
ve't, tlie elements that underlie the strata of reconstruction must 
either bo considered at this juncture, or be met at a disadvantage, 
when the means to deal with them will be out of existence. 

The fii-st supposition is, that the work upon the battle field having 
been accomplished, that the spirit that led to the commencement of 
the strife is paralyzed ,leaving the people in no other condition than 
that of submission ? If the means to ascertain the fact as to how far 
tlie feelings of the secessionists have been trained into loyalty by the 
bayonet of the Union soldier, and that the acceptance of the situation 
will be realized in the stability of civil government ushered into 
existence under the new order of things ; then, indeed, the time is 
at hand when fraternity and industry will consolidate the interests 
<»f the two races into a connnon union under the Federal Govern- 
ment. But tlii> is the bright side, with nothing to sustain the hopes 
that reconstruction will be successfully carried out without infusing 
into tlie resources of the Southern States the vitality contemplated 
])y the people under the teaching of their leading men and by 
whom tliey were driven into the rebellion. 

The chief stone of the corner of the Confederate Government 
was Shavery ; and the edifice erected upon it, adorned as it was with 
all the glitteriTig liopes of the l)uilders, now lies buried beneath the 
niiiis ! The grand idea now is, to aid in hewing out another through 
the genius <»f freemen and })lace it under the Federal Government, 
that its Rtrengtli may be increased to the extent necessary to support 
freedoui in the entire country with the concurrence of the people. 



The force by which the first link of the chain of the Unio-n was 
broken by secession, and by which the power of the general govern- 
ment was destroyed for the time, is a subject that cannot be lost 
sight of without committing a fatal mistake, when it is considered 
that the feelings of the people were fired with a degree of hostility 
that may still excite them to the extent that their opposition may 
paralyze the power of the civil authority. How to deal with them, 
is the question that every colored man must feel with sufiicient 
weio-ht to justify the attention the subject will demand from the 
standpoint it will be considered in their behalf. For while univer- 
sal emancipation has come upon the country "from its military 
necessity," and has opened the avenues to all the rights and immu- 
nities necessary for the elevation of the fi-eemen, yet, to incorporate 
these principles in the organic laws and efiectually change the 
autonomy of the non-reconstructed States by virtue of the power of 
the Federal Government, is the result that could oxAj follmo from the 
guidance of an tmseen hand. This is the political avalanche that 
has buried the traditional policy of one section, and it will recoil upon 
the other and create a common level for every State of the Union. 
But whatever may be the policy of the Loyal States in reference to 
the equalization of the suffrage as a national measure, yet every- 
thing that is sacred to freedom and would promote the prosperity 
of the country, demands that there should be but one destiny and 
that it should be fixed by the united efforts of the people. 

The breaking up of the relations between the two races, resulting 
in the general disorganization of society, without any landmarks to 
guide to harmony ; and superinduced as it may have been by 
causes over which the country had no control, yet it is a revolution 
in the Kepublic that all good men must deplore, in spite of the re- 
generating features it has brought with it. And why ? because the 
rancor that has been engendered and the humiliation inflicted upon 
the people upon whom the weight of the calamity has fallen, will 
require the most earnest labor of the statesman to obliterate it. 

For the Appomattox surrender was in itself more than an ordi- 
nary incident in the fortune of war from the political consequences 
it involved, and yet, in point of importance it will weigh next to 
nothinc in comparison with the disaster that has overwhelmed 
the people by the extinction of the dogma of secession, and in the 
elevation of the freedmen as the counterpoise to the principles that 



governed the statesmen of Secessia. If they had gone into that 
great stt'uggU with the aid of the colored mem and with the emblem 
of Freedom emUazoned upon the hanners that waited upon the 
hattUfelds, the impression is, that his suj)port would heme led to a 
remdmi of the map of the United States. If, then, the fatal results 
attending the want of affinity between the leaders in the rebellion 
and the emancipation of the colored people, is fully established in 
the minds of all intelligent men, then nothing can be fixed with 
more clearness than the landmarks that will warn the country of 
the dangers that would attend any reactionary measures against 
equal liberty in the Southern States. 



CHAP. II. 

The Last Houks of the Confederate Congress and the 
Question of Emancipation. 

The key note which was sounded in the last hours of the sitting 
of the Confederate Congress, when the question of emancipation 
and the enrolment of colored men as soldiers to fight their battles, 
was submitted for consideration by the statesmen who saw in that 
mea:=ure their only salvation, must be taken as the true guide, and 
will enable them to i)oint out the future policy of the country with 
an unerring hand. 

It is universally admitted that the " Institution," which led to the 
war for its preservation, was the source of weakness that was fatal 
to the Confederate Goveriniient, and paved tlie way for the humilia- 
tion tliat followed the terrible catastrophe as the sequel of the 
rebellion. If the ])eople can study anything from it, they will learn 
that the first rcfpiircment of free government in the Southern 
States is the extinction of caste, and is the sentiment that shonld 
Ikj diffused in that section of the country to enable them to work 
with the earnestness l)y whicli they may rise again and lead in the 
rev(»lution inaugurated by the emancipation of the colored people, 
and which undcrliea the measures for the reconstruction of the 
Itcpublic. While it is true that the work of freedom and eleva- 
tion (li<l not originate with the Southern people, yet it is equally 



9 

true that it should have, and hence the necessity of a clear con- 
ception of the situation which must be seized upon by them as 
the basis to establish the union between the two races. 

The fact that the military bill is insufficient in itself for the 
accomplishment of the work, inasmuch as an important part will 
fall upon those who are ostracised by that measure, will be fully 
realized when it is considered that to secure a freehold interest in 
the soil for the freedmen will depend upon the concessions that 
may be made for that purpose by the planters, and without any 
reference to their loyalty. 

The Revolutionary JElements of the RebelliomvTiich have fixed the 
destiny of the Southern States, take their source from the measures 
adojpted by the nation for the preservation of the Republic , and may 
be classified with the exploits upon the battle fields, where liberals 
and conservatives stood side by side under the guidance of the power 
created by the constitution, and called into 7'equisition by exigencies 
that were wholly unprovided for by the framers of that instrument. 
To consummate the work with the sword without the agency of the 
national council was an impossibility, and yet, to reconcile the people 
to the means employ od for that purpose, is the tash which stands in 
its magnitude equal to the efforts for the suppression of the rebellion. 

But to look upon the destructive ideas that may exist in the 
opposition to the enfranchisement of the colored people, is the duty 
that must be considered in connection with the fact that all the 
Northern planks used in the construction of the platforms to sustain 
the " peculiar institution" of the Southern States, were split up and 
broken into fragments by its weight and every thing 'lost to the 
cause they were designed to support. 

The next phase it presents in the regular order of things, is the 
Civil Governments inaugurated by national legislation, which gives 
the subject a novel aspect, and has infused into it a vitality far 
greater than it could ever attain by any other means, and the ques- 
tion is, will the acceptance of the situation by the people make it the 
initiative to the measures for their relief, from the humiliation that 
followed the downfall of the Confederate States, and reconcile them 
to the enfranchisement of the freedmen % Was it a measure forced 
upon the nation by the disorganized condition of things, which made 
it the only safeguard against anarchy, and enables it to stand in the 



10 

po?itioii to calm the minds of the people by its patriotic mediation? 
In the answer to this question, let the voice of the colored people be 
heard ! 

"While nothing could be more grand and providential in its eon- 
ci'ptiun than reconstruction upon the basis of equal liberty for all, 
and while it will open the only field to reach the most elevated 
position in the work to restore the freedmen to the soil as the agri- 
cultural class, and thereby give emancii)ation its true value, yet 
nothing but the irresistable decree by which it was forced upon the 
country, has led to its acceptance, and enables the friends of free- 
dom to proclaim in the language of the Declaration of Independence 
that all men are free and equal. 

Proclaim it far and near, that it is the result of the revolution 
created \)\ the rebellion that is sweeping out of existence the pro- 
slavery elements by which the nation was governed from its found- 
ation, and that it is the great source of relief for the statesmen 
whose genius was tarnished by the degrading labor imposed upon 
them to delude the masses with the false impression that the dogma 
which underlies republican institutions in this country that all are 
free and e(|ual, means politically the white man. It was by the 
teaching of this heresy that the \eneration for the constitution of 
the United States was lost with the patriotism that gave it its 
existence and reduced that instrument to the standard of the 
Delphic enigma, making it the source of confusion in the minds of 
tlie people. Therefor let all good men repudiate the chimerical 
ideas which contaminate the mind, and let Democracy in its purity 
rule the nation through the wisdom and unceasing vigilancy of the 
peoi)le concentrated in the National Congress, where the divine 
attriliute, as manifested by the extension of equal suffrage to all, 
will be maintained and radiate to every part of the great common- 
wealth through the Legislatures of the several States. 

The precipitancy with which universal fi-eedom in its reality 
was launched u])OM the country by the surrender at AVinchester, and 
pai'alyzed the minds of those who were wholly unprepared for the 
duty it imposed upon the loyal and patriotic masses to accept' wdth 
sincere serenity the ideas of equality and fraternity, yet, it is the 
j)re-requisite to the recognition of that class of American citizens 
who were elevated to the exalted position by the power of a higher 
law than that of man. But to suppose that that sublime principle 



11 

will become universal with tlie agency of the bayonet or by the 
amendment of the Federal constitution, is to hope against hope, as 
long as a large portion of the people are only convinced against 
their will. 

The counterpoise to all reactionary measures is in the mission 
of the colored man, who has been brought upon the political surface 
and stands erect in the position where he was placed by the destiny 
of the nation, and to approach the contending parties, made up 
with the loyal and patriotic liberal and conservative minds in one 
section in connection with the Union men, and the secessionists of 
the Southern States, to take counsel for the adjustment of the 
differences that neutralize the eflbrts to promote the fraternal rela- 
tions that make up the unity of the republic, is the first and the 
most important duty that will be_ performed in their behalf by 
Congress. 

The first point submitted in behalf of the race, is, that as the 
constitution of the United States was no barrier to the commence- 
ment of the civil war, and that its force was paralyzed by the 
belligerent measures employed for that purpose on one side, and as 
the existence of the republic on the other was only sustained by the 
loyalty of the government and the people under the law of self- 
preservation, therefore, no adjustment is possible under its provisions 
which makes it necessary that all shoilld agree to establish the 
basis of the reiinion by the acceptance of the situation as indicated 
and accepted by the conventions and the legislatures of the several 
States. 

The second point is, that emancipation and the enfranchisement 
of the citizens by virtue of the military plan ot reconstruction as a 
national measure should be recognized and the principles, embodied 
in the organic laws of every State in either section of the country, 
to maintain the consistency and the dignity of the nation, and 
inspire the people of the Southern States with the necessary enefrgy 
to work fully up to the requirements of the new condition of things. 



12 



CHAP. III. 

The National Aspect of Reconstkuction. 

The critical view of the subject in its national aspect at this junc- 
ture, may ati'ord the means to see how far the loyal States will go 
into the measures imposed upon the country. For, as nothing could 
be more serious in its tendency to undermine the Eepublic than the 
repudiation of the suffrage bill adopted by Congress, in the 
face of the fact that its force must be the same in every 
State, it is of the highest importance that the attempt should 
be made to draw the attention of the people to it, as they 
must see the justice of the demand it will impose. The 
necessity for the legislation by which the inherent rights of State 
legislatures and conventions to control the suffrage, were surren- 
dered to meet the exigincies of the nation by the adoption of the 
military bill, will sink far deeper into the vitals of the Republic 
than the mind can penetrate through the confusion the subject pre- 
sents at this juncture. The sacrifices the people are called upon to 
make by the prompting of their patriotism to preserve the govern- 
ment of the country, by the efforts to purify the organic Laws of 
every Loyal State of the jjroscriptive provisions which stands as the 
barrier to the political elevation of the colored man, not merely as 
an act of justice to him, but to increase the sublimity of the work 
of their Representatives to fix the destiny of the Southern States. 
For it cannot be supposed by any thinking mind, that the validity 
of the measures of enfi'anchisement, will only apply" to one section 
and not to the other, for that would constitute a discrimination 
wholly incompatible with the rights of these commonwealths, when 
the position in which these States will stand in the Union, is con- 
sidered. This has come upon the country by the centralization of 
power in the Federal Government that was exercised previous to 
the war by the States, that constitutes the revolution, and its mag- 
nitude will only be seen by the proceedings of the people in the 
Conventions and the Legislatures where the suffrage question as a 
nati(jnal measure must be considered. The first phase in the advance 
to centralization, is in the consolidated efforts to crush the rebellion 
with the sword, and as that catastrophe is the result of the work of 



13 

all who filled their position in the ranks of the Union armies, or 
contributed material or moral means for their support upon the 
battle fi.eld, therefore, for weal or wo it must redound to the 
nation. From that point, none who have survived the great 
contest can recede or pause to exhibit any sympathy for the Southern 
people, that could not be extended to them in the hour of need 
without the betrayal of a degree of weakness that is neither useful 
nor dignified. In the dispersal of the Confederate armies, the people 
were again made subjects of the Government of the United States, 
but to what extent they are loyal, is the grave question, and on its 
solution the stability of the Kepublic will depend. Driven as they 
were, from every position of any political importance, and thrown 
back upon their own vigor, and upon the internal resources of the 
Beceded States, they cannot fail to learn the true value of the only 
allies among them that will serve the purpose for their elevation. 
For they have tried the strength of the planks of the platforms upon 
which their hopes were concentrated, and the fact, that the frag- 
ments lie scattered in every direction, while the power they had in 
others, is lost, will warn the South of the delusion of the future. 

Let it be proclaimed from every house-top, and be re-echoed 
through the valleys of the country, that the true friends of the 
Southern States will labor for the equalization of the principles 
imposed upon them by the incorporation of the same in the organic 
laws of every State of the Union. Let it be proclaimed again and 
again, that the most sacred and solemn task that makes up the 
political existence of the several States have been performed in 
the conventions by the white man and the colored man for the 
first time in the history of the nation, in compliance with the will 
of the people as expressed by their Representatives in Congress, and 
that the grand spectacle shall make up the new era in the 
Government of the United States. Force upon the country the 
consideration of the fact that political equality and fraternity to exist 
in one section of the country, will destroy all the opposition to 
it in the others. 

The. supposition that the colored man was born for servitude 
and to labor in the cotton field exploded on the field of battle in 
the great struggle with the rebellion, where the proof was exliibited 
that bravery is a natural instinct in him as it is in the Caucasian 
race. Hid as it was by oppression for 240 years in this country, 



14: 

yet, with the lij^'ht of liberty to guide him through the darkness 
created by prejudice against the race, they will move forward with 
all the vigor with which they are inspired by patriotism. Sneer 
who may at any deformity, whether of the heel, nose, the lips, head 
or hair of the colored people, yet it will fail to extinguish the fact 
that they are framed as they were intended to he hy the God of 
Nature, and that they are hound hy all that is sacred in Heaven to 
stand up in its defence or gloriously fall in the effort to do their 
duty as Freemen at any cost. If the betrayal of freedom will be 
the downfall of the Republic, let those who would restrict the suf- 
fracre by any discrimination that would extend to one race and not 
to the others, take heed. The true value of this right lies in its 
use as the extinguisher of discontent in the minds of the people, 
and makes it tlie safeguard of free institutions. While the colored 
people in the Northern States, who form nothing more than mere 
cypher^ in the political world, the time is at hand when the Empire 
State, with Pennsylvania and Ohio, will be equal with Massachusetts 
in the elevation of their sable citizens to positions of honor and 
trust. For the danger that underlies this subject will be seen in 
the tendency to consolidate freedom in the Southern States, where 
their hopes will be fully concentrated under leaders who will be 
governed by circumstances without any reference to any sympathy 
for tlie Union. For in spite of the inflexible loyalty of any people, 
the irresistible power of wealth and education must be considered 
as the controlling elements in the government of the State and its 
destiny. 



CHAP. IV. 

The PowEii OF tue Federal. Government over the several 

States. 

As the amendment to the constitution of the*United States, and 
tlie civil rights bill adopted by Congress, have made the government 
the custodian of freedom, it is important to take a view of the 
means that may be employed to enable it to fulfil the mission. If 
it was possible t(» bring out a decision from the Supreme Court to 



15 

settle the question in reference to the duty of the States that are 
not under the operation of the military bill, that would force them 
to be governed by its spirit the same, and that a ready compliance 
would be accorded by Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri ; then the 
work of regeneration would-, in effect, be accomplished, and would 
serve as a shield against the exigency that would require means 
more weighty to carry it out. The extinction of State Sovereignty, 
where it conflicts with the power of the Federal Government 
seems to be an accomplished fact, or at any rate the scope of the 
power it has attained is sufficient to secure compliance in every 
case where the general interests of the country may require 
it. But to resort to harsh measures, would be so clearly 
incompatible with the existence of the civil government of the 
States, that it is worth while to examine with care the remedy at 
hand. The first object is, to fix upon a clear and comprehensive 
line of policy to protect the people without infringing upon their 
rights, and yet this will depend upon the vigor of the Legislatures 
in the reorganization of the judiciary and the militia of the State 
upon the basis that must be sufficiently firm and complete to pre- 
clude the necessity for any extra aid from Congress or the military 
of the departments. The stern reality that exists in the predomi- 
nant portion of the population in many of the localities in every 
one of the non-reconstructed States, is made up of that class that were 
suddenly transformed into manhood, and is well calculated to perplex 
and paralyze the judgment of those who have either controlled or 
regarded them with such a degree of indifference as to lead to the 
impression that this people have no rights that white men are 
bound to respect. To recognize and surrender to the new element 
in the body politic from the necessity of the case, is the true test of 
the loyalty upon which the strength of the country will depend. 
The rapid advance that has been made up to this line of duty by 
eminent men of the two sections, is the most sublime aspect that 
the new order of things could present, and to cherish the principles 
by which they are governed is essential to the success of the work 
that must be performed to overcome all antagonism that would 
impede the union between the two people. 

But to overcome the difficulties that stand in the way of the 
measures necessary to create a regular system for the operation of the 
judiciary and for the administration of equal and exact justice to all, 



16 



is no ordinary task, for it is the success of that object that will relieve 
the miUtary of the duty imposed upon it by the present disordered 
condition of things. It is this stream that flows through all civil- 
ized communities, and takes its source from Divine teaching for the 
control of the moral government of man, and its pollution from 
whatever cause will lead to anarchy and demoralization. No class 
of people could ever be exposed to greater danger from it than the 
freedmen, who may become the victims of imposition with no other 
dependence than the court of justice which may be to them a source 
of injustice for years to come, from those who may have no sym- 
pathv with Freedom. For whether situated in the immediate 
neighborhood of large communities, or in the remote localities in 
the agricultural districts, justice is due to all, from the highest to 
the humblest. To secure this blessing, it is within the power of the 
National Government to infuse its spirit into the Legislatures, and 
to watch over the people until the judicial system shall attain the 
vigor that will make it equal to the duty that lies before it. To 
organize the militia of the several States and bring it up to the 
perfection that will make it equal to any emergency, is the most 
serious part of the work, , and will be fully appreciated by the 
South and the Federal Government. Any reluctance to approach it 
will only indicate the want of information in reference to the vital 
principles the nation nnist inculcate in the public mind by the 
jtrompting of the laws of self-preservation. The attempt to shun this 
duty will not avail or relieve it from the responsibility it has as- 
sumed in instituting free Government, which points to the future 
when the battalions of infantry, the squadrons of cavalry and the 
batteries of artillery will exist and be governed by the same rules 
and regulations for all, and with no special privilege for any. The 
stern necessity that demands it can only be understood by keeping 
in view the fact that all proscription by the action of the Federal 
(Jovernment will be at an end. The right to the spur was won 
(hiring the rebellion, but not awarded to any of those who were 
considered worthy of it by some of the disciples of West Point and 
others high in rank in the army. But the true policy of the nation 
will be fully develoi)ed in carrying out the plan for the organization 
of tlie national guard, and will test the spirit that controls its efforts 
to break down caste in the United States. It will present the 
grandest spectactlu of tlie time when the million of sable sentinels of 



17 

Freedom will watch over the Goddess of Liberty and at the same 
time aid in maintaining the peace of the comitry by their neutrality. 
It is to carry this, the last entrenchment of the prejudice of the 
country, that the rally will be made to secure the triumph that will 
constitute them the custodians of Freedom, therefore, let the pur- 
pose be proclaimed far and near, that the exercise of this right by 
all freemen will be the finality of the struggle to break down the 
barrier to their elevation. 



CHAP. V. 
The Duty of the Fkeedmen in the Southern States. 

While it is proper and right that all the privileges belonging to 
the colored people should be presented to the country in the strongest 
light, and in every phase of the transition in which they must be 
seen, yet, there is an important duty connected with the subject 
that should be considered with a view to make some reference to 
the paramount object that lies before them in the relations they are 
called upon to sustain to the community at large. The sudden 
transformation, effecting the social condition of four millions of peo- 
ple, and the chaos resulting from the breaking up of their relations 
with the soil, is sufficiently grave to justify the attention that will 
be devoted to it under the caption selected for that purpose. There 
would be less cause for apprehension at this time, if the people were 
actuated by the disposition to follow the demands of justice in ref- 
erence to the destiny of the colored people in this country, but the 
fact that the nation is governed by the force of circumstances in all 
things that make up its policy on the subject of Freedom, cannot 
but create the impression that they may stop short of the line of duty 
to their posterity. 

The first part of the work before the colored man, is to make such 
an impression upon the minds of the American people as will create 
the weight he will employ to control the sentiments of the public. 
The half and half measures by which the nation entered into the 
design to settle the suffrage question, was paralyzed by rejecting the 
constitutional amendment by the States it was intended to affect, 



18 

and which, if adopted, could not but extinguish the only ray of light 
in the political horizon of the colored people. It was an attempt to 
abandon coercion and impose it upon the people to legislate the 
principle into existence for the relief of the nation from the most 
important duty that could devolve uj^on it by the demands of free- 
dom and self-protection. Its accei)tance by the legislatures of the 
Loyal States made up for the time the policy they were ready to 
adopt and extinguish the spark of liberty, but it was rekindled by 
those who were opposed to emancipation, and to the military 
necessity that gave it an existence. 

The principles that were concealed under the assumed magnan- 
imity, were not only void of any national dignity from the want 
of iiio-enuousness, but it was only useful as a measure for self-stultifi- 
cation by its adoption. 

It was the impression that the Civil Eights bill aimed at the 
elevation of the citizens of all the States to the level where they 
would be recognized as the custodians of freedom, under the 
government of the United States, and with the co-operation of the 
legislatures of the several States. This must either be the result of 
reconstruction, or the germ of future commotion between the two 
sections of the country. To make a clear discrimination between 
the duty that rightfully belongs to the several States, and the relations 
of the masses to the Union, is a delicate task, and yet it must be per- 
formed with a view to fix their allegiance without any dependence 
upon mere party machinery for its existence, for whatever may be the 
danger of internal Avar, it will only come from this source, although 
there need be no apprehension if the power necessary for the regu- 
lation of civil government could be judiciously directed with the 
concurrent cfibrts of influential minds of all shades of opinion. It 
woukl afford a far better field for the developement of public senti- 
ment, which, if concealed at this juncture, may show itself in the 
future, witli a degree of violence that may be strong enough to 
neutralize the entire work of reconstruction, for, if it was possible 
to punisli any portion of the peof)le for treason against the United 
States, those who would be the subjects of judicial proceedings 
should ])c kuown, and all others should or may be exempt from the 
di.-abilitics. \U\t under the present plan of proceedure there 
Bcenis to 1)6 chances for committing very grave mistakes by the 
exercise of discretionary ])ower by subordinate ofiicials, who may 



19 

be very honest in their intentions, and yet, from mere presumption, 
they may proscribe and inflict punishment, by the adoption of 
measures tliat should only be the result of the decision of a 
regular tribunal. But while the oath of allegience to the 
Government may be an important relief to those who may 
comply with its requirements, it will not shield those who may 
refrain from availing themselves of its benefits, from any scru- 
ples they may have as ex-secessionists. But is it right to put in 
any plea for them as citizens of the United States, that it may be 
seen how far all loyal men may respect them in their situation ? It 
is to make some use of this class why a regular system to organize 
civil government should be adopted to infuse the same degree of 
vitality into the minds of the people in each of the unreconstructed 
States, as will enable them to move on in the direct line of action 
in the conventions and legislatures, as will be similar in every case 
where the purpose is to consolidate and build up such principles for 
the commonwealth as will preclude the antagonism that would 
otherwise exist, by excluding one class of citizens from the enjoy- 
ment of privileges that were exercised by the other. 

The position of the colored people as supporters of the work of 
reconstruction, seems to be mixed up with so many extraneous ideas 
that the efforts to define and give them a direction that will be 
more comprehensive, is essential and paramount as their success will 
depend upon it ; for however useful they may have been to the 
Union cause during the rebellion, and the fact that the spirit of the 
principles that they are called upon to support at the ballot box, 
takes its source from the same necessity, and yet the social status 
of this people is the same in either section of the country. From 
this standpoint the question must occur, that the answer may show 
how far the people will be prepared to realize the danger- that 
would •'result from the attempt to use the colored man as a mere 
straw upon the political surface for the benefit of the Union, at the 
expense of his interest in the Southern States. 

Will this nation take heed from- the fatal mistake committed by 
the sacrifice of the great dogma that was proclaimed to the world 
in 1776, that " all men are born free and equal," while the conven- 
tion of 1787 recognized property in man and made it the germ of 
the rebellion ? The want of a holy purpose in the policy of the 
Government of the United States on the subject of Equal Liberty 



20 

for all, seems to be very seriously felt in all its measures, and if the 
disposition to shun the responsibility of the crisis should be mani- 
fested as it was in the adjustment at that time, it will be impossible 
to maintain the peace of the llepublic. 

The introduction of tlie necessary measures for the guidance of 
the colored people in the midst of the transition and the vigor with 
whicli the developments will be made, will be sufficient to give all 
the animation they may require to enable them to make the impres- 
sion that with them freedom is sacred. To date the rights of these 
people as citizens of this country from the issuing of the proclama- 
tion of emancipation, would be simply a subterfuge and an indignity, 
and would indicate the deceptive intent of those who are only half-way 
men, and who will stop short in the midst of the work, at the first mo- 
ment that will serve as the opportunity. The fact that there should be 
no cause for any hostility between the two people in the Southern 
States, ought to be clearly seen, and every measure resorted to to 
devise the means to subdue the prejudices by which they are sepa- 
rated from each other. To accomplish this vital object, all the sac- 
rifices that can be made without debasing the dignity of tlie man, 
or endangenng the holy cause, must be resorted to for that purpose. 
The view of the grand flank movement upon the entire line of the 
opptjnents of Freedom from the point contem])lated, will not only 
be highly important to the colored people, but the salvation of the 
Southern States will depend upon its success. It will give a degree 
of force to the energies of that section of the country, far greater 
than it has ever had, and create the means for self-dependence to 
the extent that will be fully sustained by the development of its 
resources. Mixed up as this irresistible purpose is with the existence 
of those who now lie postrate by the power that extinguished the 
rebelli<jn, they cannot but see in it the means of the deliverance 
they nmst seek in the alliance of the people of the South. Chere- 
fore, to drive out tlie Freedmen is an impossibility, for they were 
planted among the people by the laws that gave the power to the 
peculiar instituticm, and by their natural rights, and owing allegi- 
ance to no (jther country they are citizens of the United States, 
and any hostile design carried into operation against them, could 
not lull t<» recoil upon tlie nation. 

The several congresses held by the people of the Southern States, 
from tinic to time, some years before they seceded, it is known that 



21 

the labor question was the most perplexing to their public men, and 
whatever power they may possess to carry on the industry of the 
country in the future, the very first and the main object will be to 
secure the aid of the Freedmen as a class that they never will sup- 
plant. It is not only necessary to shield them from the life and 
death struggle that would follow from any attempt to drive them 
out, but it is necessary for the preservation of the Republic. The 
means by which the solution of the grand problem will be reached 
to indicate the fraternal relations of the people to each other, will 
be clearly manifested by touching the leading points of the plan 
of reconstruction. 

The importance of a definite conception of the work as it is, should 
be understood by colored men to enable them to perform their duty 
to the country with all the intelligence necessary to show the spirit 
with which they will be governed as supporters of the Union, and it 
can not be too carefully considered, for they must have a position 
strong enough to guard against any invasion of their rights. For 
whatever may be the views of others in reference to reconstruction, 
with the colored people their plan must be fi:xed in the supervision of 
the nation which would not only be extended to the adoption of 
the constitution by the several States and the organization of the 
Legislatures, but it will include civil Government and the estab- 
lishing of an efifective police system, and the organization and the 
equipment of the militia free from all proscription, and thereby put 
every branch in a complete working order before the surrender to 
the people of the power assumed during the war in behalf of the 
Republic. It will be the only efiective protection against mere 
paper concessions in behalf of Freedom, and will neutralize the fa- 
cilities to cheat at the ballot box and paralyze the entire labor of 
the statesmen with the sacrifices made upon the field of battle, as 
would be the case as soon as those who are now in the back ground 
shall have come to the front. 

It is to guard against the provocation that would excite them to 
any re-actionary measure, either against Freedom or the Policy of 
the Government, why the suggestion is made to commit them to the 
work of reconstruction, which, if carried out under its guidance, 
and in accordance with the principles that may be embodied in a 
general plan to be followed by the conventions and the legislatures 
of the several States, it could not be regarded as the triumph of one 



22 

party over the other, which in either case, may carry with it a pro- 
scription that would be felt by the minority with a degree of keen- 
ness that would necessarily engender antagonism. The object is 
to extinguisli the fire of Secession, and to reconstruct society with the 
new materials, with a view to its permanency by the removal of the 
volcanic elements that underlie the strata of the work of the poli- 
tician who labors with no ambition to reach the elevation of the 
statesman. Therefore, it is not the special duty of the colored man 
to study the ditference and learn something of the seriousness of the 
danger that should be avoided if possible, but it is for the entire 
])eople of this country, who will control its destiny at the ballot box, 
that must go into it with a clearness of conception far greater than 
they have e^nnced up to the present time. 

Those who are in fa^vor of peace, let them show their plan and 
the method by which they will work to promote it. For the public 
men who have no other stock in trade than the force of the oppo- 
sition they can array against each other, by exciting the feelings of 
the masses without having any principles to inculcate to advance the 
general interest of the State or the Nation, will never make anything 
else of themselves but mere agitators. It is the category that every 
intelligent colored man should avoid, and if they would be useful 
to this generation, let them study the means, and learn the true 
value of political economy as a science, that they may labor with 
credit to the race and for the good of the country. But while it is 
the duty of all good Citizens to cultivate the means to live in peace 
^vith each other, and only learn the art of war for the protection 
of Freedom or the defence of the country, yet in case of any attack 
on either from any scource, let it be the religious duty of every col- 
ored man to fill his place in the rank of his regiment, and be ready 
to move forward at tlie command and strike with all the vigor that 
God and nature may supply to carry on the sacred work. 



23 

CHAP. YI. 

The Plan to Restoke Haemont between the two Races in the 
Southern States, and fok Social Improvement on the Basis 
OF Agriculture. 

The future of the United States, or of the Southern States, will 
present no subject that will he more important to the happiness of 
the people, than the science of agriculture, whether considered as 
the field for speculation, or for the elevation of the race that stood 
before the nation as the hewers of wood and the drawers of water. 
Its grandeur will be seen in the fact that the polluted stream of 
politics will be subordinate to it in every phase, which enable them 
to realize the power it will exert to control the efforts to consolidate 
^freedom, and restore the relations of the freedmen to the soil as the 
agricultural class. The antagonism that has taken such a wide 
range between capital and labor in this country, requires a solution 
that will lead to a reciprocity of interests, that will be more perma- 
nent, at the same time have the inherent means to regulate itself 
without being exposed to the discordancy that effects, to a greater 
or less degree, the great interests of the manufactories of the New 
England States and elsewhere; for, notwithstanding the redun- 
dant population which makes up the masses in all the cities, 
and the constant fiuw of the tide of emigration from Europe, yet 
the struggle continues under the various organizations to the detri- 
ment of the mutual relations that should be sustained between 
the employers and the employees. 

But in turning to the Southern States, where the principle of 
the social revolution will prevail, it is necessary to examine the 
field that the future of the two races will present not only to the 
people of the United States ; but with the view to make it equally 
as useful to the Brazilian Empire, as to the colonies of Spain, where 
the transition from slavery to freedom will follow the light kindled 
in this country. For whatever may be said or written in re- 
ference to the regulation of labor, by the law of supply and de- 
mand, in the sense in which it may be considered in large com- 
munities, and in the agricultural regions in the Eastern, I^orthern 
or Western States, yet nothing would be more useless to the freed- 
men than the theory of the philosophers of the day, who, with their 



24 

ancient ideas, which leads them to the conchision that these people 
will be safe as tenants-at-will, and that you must " let them alone 
to root or die." But while there can be no doubt but what a large 
portion of the freedmen will, by their industry, become free-holders 
under the usual process of the law of trade, nevertheless, as the 
relations between them and the soil were broken up by the sov- 
ereignty incidental in the government of the United States, and 
exercised to meet the great contingency of the war, it is important 
that it should in some way guard against the disorder that would 
follow from the surrender to the respective States of the charge it 
assimied for their protection ; for it is not the freedmen alone that 
requires the protection, but it is a society, made up as it is of the 
incongruities, which is the result of the education which carries 
with it no power of cohesion. 

To leave the people in such a situation to depend upon what 
may be called the drifting policy, to restore every thing to their 
normal condition as indicated by the class of men who have nothing 
to suggest, would be a calamity equal in its tendency to the defeats 
they suffered upon the battle field, inasmuch as it would leave 
them to struggle with the chaotic elements of the war, that were 
created to a very great extent by the operations carried on in behalf 
of the United States. To teach all classes of the people how to live 
for the mutual benefit of society under the present condition of 
things, is a necessity that will not admit of any delay by those who 
feel the force of the exigency to the extent that will urge them on 
in the efforts to comply with its demands as benefactors of that por- 
tion of this country that has experienced to a limited degree the 
benign influence of civilization, or the blessings of Republican Insti- 
tutions. In this connection, the demoralization of the financial re- 
sources of the country must be considered, to ascertain the extent 
of the necessity for national aid to the people, to enable them to re- 
cuperate from the prostration under which tliey are suffering, with- 
out making any sacrifices of their lands, and thereby give the spec- 
ulators the advantages that should only be enjoyed by those who 
may enter into the spirit of the design to make agriculture the basis 
of elevation in the Southern States. 

The despondency in the minds of some of the people at this junc- 
ture, may aftbrd rare opportunities to the modern Shylocks to pur- 
chase lands from those who in too many instances, will be ready to 



25 

eat up all that they may have, and shut themselves out for all time 
to come from the high position they could occupy among the plan- 
ters under the new system of support to agricultural developments. 
But as useful as private capital may be to the commercial world, 
yet it would be wholly inadequate to meet the demands necessary 
to give a vitality to agricultural interest equal to the requirements 
of that great branch of industry. From this view of the subject, 
the question that must recur and press itself upon the attention of 
the political economists, is,will it be the duty of the nation to advance 
as a loan the sum of $50,000,000, to be increased to $100,000,000 if 
necessary, for the relief of the planters in the non-reconstructed States, 
upon the condition herein stated ? The $40,000,000 of the surplus 
revenue deposited with the several States some years since, was 
thrown away in co7npariso7i with the great results that would follow 
from the application of the proposed loan^ hy which the people of 
the Southern States could he placed in the position to realize the 
leading ohjects contemplated hy the Statesmen in their reflections 
upon the felicity under the Empire they aimed to estahlish in that 
section. 

The Vamour propre that may develop itself from the first im- 
pression that may be created in the minds of those who may be strug- 
gling with their early convictions, would to some extent paralyze the 
principles that underlie the plan for national aid, but the fact that there 
must be some means to overcome sectional prejudices, and fire the 
fraternal feelings of the people of the two sections of tlie country 
and from the force of its application sway their judgment in the right 
direction. The thirty years' training that was necessary to bring 
them up to the labor they have undergone during the last six years 
will become obsolete from the rapidity with which they will advance 
in the new ideas which leads to peace and prosperity, instead of 
strife and rapine. The people will learn something from the sacri- 
fices made by the South when considered in the light in which they 
can be seen and will show that all the materials to establish Free- 
dom in this country were furnished from that section, and at the 
cost of more than $1,2(10,000,000 of dollars and add to this sum 
$3,000,000,000 lost by investments made in Confederate Bonds and 
$4,200,000,000 by the depositors of greenbacks issued during the war, 
and the aggregate will be fully equal to the expenditure of the Gov- 
ern^ient of the United States. What will they receive in return for the 



26 

vast outlay, except from the increase in the value of the lands ? The 
answer to this question lies far deeper than can be imagined by 
many of the statesmen who only see everything from the surface. 
But, view it as you may, it is the Pandora box of Secession, and if it 
should be opened, the agitation for compensation would be the first 
fruit of the poison that it would emit. 

But as the connecting link between the two races must depend 
upon the agricultural developments as the life of the industry of 
the future, it demands an elaborate exposition to illuminate as far 
as possible the minds of those who are satisfied to follow the con- 
dition of things under which the colored people have struggled 
since emancipation in the State of New York and elsewhere in the 
N"orthern States, For while the impression exists in the public 
mind, that they must necessarily enjoy all the rights of labor in 
common with tlie dominant class in this section of the country, yet, 
in view of the fact that the combination against them is carried to 
the extent Mdiere nothing is seen of them as mechanics, it ought to 
be sufficient to dispel the delusion that must be overcome to open 
the way for the acceptance of the principles that will be submitted 
to the nation in their belialf. If from that cause and their rigid ex- 
clusion from all the avenues of general industry as opened to others, 
the degradation of this people can be clearly traced, then the case 
will be made up in accordance with the facts, which shows, that 
notwithstanding the sympathy and the liberality extended to them 
in connection with their equality before the law, their condition is 
not far removed fi*om that of servitude ! 

"With all ihe gratitude that should be manifested by them for 
the s}nnpathy of tliose who are opposed to oppression, yet the 
colored ])eople must have something more substantial to stand upon 
than wliat they have realized from freedom in the State of New 
York <»r elsewhere in any of the free States, where they are the 
victims of an intolerable proscription as a powerless minority. 
Trained up as tliey are in the school of experience, with no affinity 
to the community at large, they are fully prepared to turn their 
faces southward to seek the means where they may establish for 
themselves and their posterity the system of employment by which 
they will be able to exclude themselves from poverty by inculcating 
the habits of industry and soberness. In the field of husbandry 
proHcri]»ti<)Ti Mill cease to haiTass those through whose labor the 



27 

development of the resources of t^e. soil will depend, and open to 
tliein the avenues for social improvement in all the departments 
where the colored man will be measured in the circle of social ele- 
vation according to the standard of the mind by which the intelli- 
gent community will be governed. 

The Basis of the Union between the Two Races. 

Having exhausted the general principles that underlie the lead- 
ing features of the several subjects that involves the destiny of the 
colored people in this country, let the proposition emanating from 
them be submitted to the statesmen and the philanthropists that 
they may examine the basis upon which the happiness of the two 
races may be fuUy established under the guidance of the Unseen 
Hand that controls the existence of nations and the human family 
without any aid. 

The following will be considered as the protocol, with the points 
to indicate with some clearness the subject they will be called upon 
to give their support in behalf of posterity and the welfare of the 
nation. 

1st. Let the appeal be made to every planter in the non-recon- 
structed States to grant alotments of not more than ten (10) acres 
to constitute a homestead for every family on the plantations where 
they were formerly held, and the same, with the right in fee, when 
acquired as herein provided, will exist in the family and their pos- 
terity forever, and will be exempt froin all the disabilities, of every 
nature, by which the title of the lands could in any way be alienated 
under any process resulting from the decision of any court of law, or 
otherwise. 

2d. As the object is to restore the relations of the freedmen to 
the soil as the agricultural class, and establish them in the position 
that will be permanent, and with the means to be useful among the 
planters, it is essential that they should labor for those who may 
extend the concession that will give to every family on any planta- 
tion a freehold interest in the land they may occupy, therefore let 
them render service under a mutual contract, in lieu of cash pay- 
ment for the purchase. 

The guardian of the nation as assumed over this people, imposes 
upon it the responsibility of making the necessary provisions to 



28 

surrender it to tlie keeping of the States respectively, tbat their 
protection may become the duty of citizens at large to each other. 
For nothing would tend to demoralize the two races to a greater 
degree, than to throw them into a sudden contact without any fixed 
principles to govern them in cases where the struggle for the su- 
premacy would form any part of the antagonism that would exist 
from the want of the regulations that should clearly point out the 
fraternal duty imposed upon them by the new relation in which 
they will stand to each other, 

3d. To infuse into the agricultural interest in the Southern 
States the necessary vigor, and enable the people to re-establish 
their prosperity within the limits of the time they were engaged in 
destroying it, and reach a higher position than they could possibly 
attain by the ordinary means of recuperation, it is proper to extend 
to those who may have the disposition to rise above their present 
condition, such relief from the national treasury as may be necessary 
to enable such persons to cultivate the land, and give employment 
to the freedmen as occupants of grants made to them by \artue of 
the obligation that will be assumed in every case where the aid is 
extended. 

Viewing it as the imperative duty of the people of the loyal 
States to take up the subject with sufiicient vigor to show its econo- 
my when considered from the national standpoint from which it 
will be seen by the statesmen who feel the gra^^ty of the proposi- 
tion to supply homes for 4,000,000 of persons made free by virtue 
of the actions of the Federal Government, it is essential that the 
demand should be made upon the nation for 50,000,000 of dollars 
to carry out tlie plan of restoration and recuperation. It contem- 
plates no discrimination on account of the political proclivities ot 
any who may make the demand for relief, as the object is to seek 
the same liberality for the Freedmen on the plantations, who, from 
the relations they will sustain as citizens, and as cultivators of the 
soil, shall be free to follow their convictions without offending any 
one in the community. 

4tli. The organization of a Bureau of Agriculture in each of the 
several States by the legislatures, will give the people control of the 
measures by which homesteads should be arranged on the planta- 
tions where the owners will make the concession a voluntary act, 



29 

with the co-operation of the Commissioners of Freedmen who would 
represent the Government of the United States in the performance 
of the duty that would be required to restore these people and secure 
certificates of title for every homestead and register the same in 
the county where located, which will constitute a deed of con- 
veyance for all time to come. The purpose is to secure by legisla- 
tion the exemption for the planters, and protect them to the extent 
required for the freedmen and keep them and their descendants 
together, and thereby afford the opportunity to trace the sublimity 
of the transition and the union between the two races for the gene- 
rations to come, who will see in the spectacle the glorious results of 
the efforts to unite them through the industry of the country, and 
realize in the United States in a higher degree the blessings that 
were sought for by Solon in behalf of the Athenians. 

To perpetuate the happiness of the people of the agricultural 
districts as far as human laws can promote it, it should not be law- 
ful to issue any writ of attachment, excepting against the product of 
the plantations, and only so far as it may affect the planter in his 
special interest, and thereby protect the lien of the freedmen from 
the knavery that could be practiced upon them. If the loan is ex- 
tended and judiciously employed in the improvement and in the 
cultivation of the land, with the use of the same for five years with- 
out any interest, it would give all the support that could be required 
for the accomplishment of the grand object contemplated by the 
demand upon the nation for that purpose. 

In the purchase of lands for the freedmen the limit for pay- 
ment should be extended to five years without any interest, which 
will enable them to relieve themselves of all incumbrances by the 
expiration of the time to refund the national loan, which will leave 
the two people in the condition to promote their prosperity and 
secure a lasting inheritance for their posterity, through the mag- 
nanimity by which the Federal Government will be prompted to 
come to the rescue. 

5th. Brings the people of the United States to the consideration 
of another grave subject, and in which the claims of the widows and 
the orphans in the Southern States, upon whom the weight of the war 
has fallen with an irresistable force, and leaving them far beyond 
the reach of any succour from the source from which it should come 



30 

for their relief. It has been shown, how necessary it will be to the 
peace of the country to ignore the political proclivity of the people 
in the agricultural field, and what may be demanded in this case in 
comjiliance with the exigency of the nation will be fully sustained 
where the claims of humanity will justify it in another in behalf 
of the class of suft'erers for whose beneiit the national loan could 
be applied as a donation when collected through the Bureau of Agri- 
culture in the several States. When their condition is considered as it 
was before the war and compare it with their present situation, it 
seems to be the severest calamity that could possibly overtake the 
widows and the orphans, while the State through which they are suf- 
ering is powerless and can afford them no relief. The law of humanity 
that justifies the succour extended to the wounded enemy upon the 
field of slaughter, points with more force to the duty of the com- 
munity to build up institutions for the protection and the education 
of the fatherless children. But there is another phase that must be 
reached to make the subject as comprehensive as possible, for while 
the nation may never be in the situation to extend its pension roll 
to the Southern States, as those who would seek its benefits were 
employed against the Federal Government, yet as it is impossible 
to leave the decrepid in the misery entailed upon tliem by the in- 
cidents of the struggle, therefore the duty of the people of the 
several States ought to be very clear in reference to all of that class 
and especially where they have no resources to fall back upon. 
But what would stand in the xoay of the legislatures tnaMrig the 
Tiecessary 'provision for them if the gravity of the subject should 
liw^e sufficient weight to hring out the ajproval of the Government 
and the people of the loyal States, is the question that will come up 
for consideration. If it is universally conceded that without seces- 
sion there would have been no emancipation in the Southern States, 
then it will be seen in tlie general "result how far the good will pre- 
punderate against the evil of the mission it has performed for the 
nation ; therefore let the entire country submit to the contingencies 
and heal up the breach that all may rejoice together. 

To employ the fifty millions of dollars, ($50,000,000) in estab- 
lieliing homes for the invalids and in building up other institutions 
for tlie widows and orphans, would give it a two-fold character and 
make the benefits ramify through every circle of society in that 
section of the country, and when the sacrifice the amount in green- 



31 

backs would cost the United States in materials and in the manu- 
factory is carefully considered, it seems to be impossible for the 
proposition to fail without carrying with it the dignity of the 
Bepubhc. 

As the last point of the protocol has been considered, it ^vill now 
afford the opportunity to take a retrospective view of the subject to 
enable the people of this country to comprehend more fully the 
nature and the magnitude of the plan, and the efforts of the colored 
man to supply the means to arrive at the solution of the questions 
by peaceful means, that have cost the nation the vast sacrifice of 
blood and treasure, while it presents not a single feature that could 
not be reached without it. It is decidedly more pleasant to enter 
upon this field of labor, for it is here where the evidence at hand 
will give the necessary force to the subject, and carry it above the 
criticism to which it may at any time have been exposed from the 
want of information in reference to the secret purpose of the plan 
submitted to many of the leading statesmen who were called upon 
to review it. 

But it is worthy of note, that no party in this country could 
have adopted the plan without entering into the revolutionary 
policy it aimed to infuse, by making the emancipation of all the 
females in the several States, by compensation, the leading feature, 
and by the development of the utility of free labor elsewhere than 
in the Territories, and neutralize the theory of the class of public 
men who were " the representatives of white men," and consequently 
ignored the interest of the colored people entirely. 

But as they have been driven from the position by the develop- 
ment of the principles which makes them the representatives of 
the American people, it will afford them the means to study and 
learn something from the fallacy which neutralized their usefulness 
and carried the country to the verge of disruption. 

The vigor with, which the pen of colored men may be employed, 
in compliance with the duty imposed upon them by their elevation 
in the scale of manhood, will preclude the necessity for any apology 
for the course that will be pursued, without any reference to the 
views of others, to fix the destiny of the race among the people of 
the United States. 



32 



TnK Danger of Secession Considered in the Appeal to the 
People of South Cajbolena in Behalf of the Union. 

Having carefully considered the tendency and tlie danger of 
secession in advance of tlie developments that led to its inaugura- 
tion, the copy of the document, as preserved, will show the correct- 
ness of the promises and will give those whom it was designed to 
serve, a better opportunity to study the colored people than they 
will ever learn of them from the stand-point from which they 
were seen by the statesmen of the country. 

"Bedford, L. I. October 31, 1860. 
" To his Excellency Governor Gist. 

" Sm : Hoping that your excellency will carefully consider the 
subject of this letter and weigh its contents for the benefit of the 
people of South Carolina, I deem it important to submit it to you. 
It is the first of the series of documents that will be submitted to 
the Governors, and to the Legislatures of the several States, to un- 
fold the principles by which the nation may be governed to escape 
the danger to which it is ex|Dosed, Irom the cause of the commotion 
in the public mind. The distance which the Statesmen of the 
Southern and ^^orthern States have been led from each other, will 
preclude them from originating any plan to control the country 
upon principles that would command the approval of the people in 
both sections with the means they have employed for that purpose. 
If this point is well taken, the necessity for a remedy to relieve 
the people from the suspense created by the intensity of the excite- 
ment in the public mind, will be admitted by your Excellency, and 
•if I should succeed in establishing the position of the arbitrator to 
settle the sectional contest on the question of slavery and emancipa- 
tion, it will enable me to command the attention of those to whom 
I will make the ai)peal in behalf of my own people. 

"My complexion as a colored man, will be a guarantee for the 
eincerity of my intention, and the efibrts I have made to serve 
the pco})le of the Southern States, with the plan to relieve them 



33 

from the danger of the policy by which they are governed ; and if 
continued in it can lead to no other result than the overthrow of 
the very principle it is intended to protect. To deal with this sub- 
ject intelligently, two things must be considered by your Excellency 
and the honorable members of the legislature of South Carolina, 
upon whom it will devolve to fix the principles by which the people 
of that State will be governed in the future, in reference to the sub- 
ject of emancipation as a southern measure with a national basis. 

" The mathematical considerations that must be gone into to 
comprehend evety phase the subject will undergo, whether it assume 
an extreme Southern aspect in all its ramifications or developments, 
be made to make it harmonize with the interests of the country 
without any injustice to the people in either section. That this 
attempt on my part may be useful to the eflbrts to preserve the 
peace of the country, the position and the intention of the people 
of the Southern States at the present time must be considered in 
connection with the principles by which they were governed at the 
formation of the government, and if it can be seen that there is a 
departure from the line of policy established by the delegates in the 
convention in 1787, the extenuating cause must be reviewed without 
any disguise. 

" If it is admitted that the African slave trade continued twenty 
years in compliance with the demand of the delegates from Georgia 
and South Carolina, and that the time fixed upon for its termination 
was sanctioned by them, then it is very important to know whether the 
people of these two States will stand by the compact to protect the 
dignity of the nation or whether they will abandon it without any 
regard to it ! This is the question that must be answered in har- 
mony with the views of the people who are opposed to the slave 
trade, or it must assume an aspect that will accord with the dispo- 
sition to favor it regardless of the consequences which may follow. 
The gravity of the subject will be fully developed if considered in 
connection with the progress of public opinion ifi the free States 
which is sweeping before it every effort that tends to favor the 
slave trade as an issue before the people of this country. If the 
convention surrendered to it in 1787, the position the Southern 
States will assume at this crisis will show the magnanimity and 
the loyalty of the people to the Union. 



34: 

"The trtct that the le<;ishituic of South Carolina will he called 
upon to deal with this subject with a view to abandon the ultra 
Southern policy by which her statesmen have been controlled, is of 
the hiirhest importance, as the safety of that section of the country 
depends ui>on the wisdom and the forbearance of the people who 
must sacrifice principles which cannot be sustained without expos- 
ing them to an extremity that may lead to the gravest consequences. 
The n(^cessity for guarding against creating any suspicion in the 
mind of Southern men, led me to suppress the subject of my mis- 
sion until the exigencies of the times would enable me to make 
the effort to submit it to the legislatures of the several States with 
the approval of the people of this country. The impression that 
I could make it useful to the nation and promote the interest of my 
own people, was too deeply fixed in my mind to permit me to look 
with indifference upon the efforts of the statesmen in the develop- 
ment of principles against the peace of the country and its internal 
relations, if not revolutionary in their tendency, without carrying 
with them any benefit to the colored people. 

" That your Excellency and the honorable members of the 
legislature may fully comprehend the magnitude and the gravity 
of the subject and the necessity of submitting it at this juncture, I 
will reveal the policy I have followed in my ai)peals to the legisla- 
tures of some of the Southern States to make agriculture the basis 
of emi'Tation to Africa. If it was' the intention to remove the 
free colored people from 'motives of philanthropy, the elaborate plan 
devised for that pur})Ose by me is sutficient to carry it out to the 
fullest extent without exposing them to the penalty of confiscating 
the freedom of any. i>ut if the object was the re-enslavement of 
my peo])le I considered it my duty to stand between them and the 
State ].cgislaturcs as far as I could to shield them against any 
legislation without the real object being fully revealed. Three 
ai>j»cals were ma<lc to the legislature of Virginia during the last 
two adniinistrati(^s, two of which were very important to the free 
colored people of that State, as the question was pending each time 
to enact a law to enslave them if they did not leave within time" 
limited for that purpose. In each case the ])roposition failed and 
the i)rompting of humanity was triumphant in the Legislature, 
whicli is the only refuge for that proscribed people. Appeals were 



35 

made to Maryland, Tennessee, Indiana, Georgia and Florida, and 
without expecting or having received any reply, yet the result of 
my efforts to save the colored people with the plan of emigration 
were fully established by the proceedings of the legislatures where 
it was considered. The necessit}'' of adopting it as a policy bv 
which the people of the Southern States could lead the country 
was elaborately gone into, not only in the documents to the Legis- 
latures but in the letters written to influential men in that section 
of the Unioji. The fact that the South has lost the opportunity and 
is thrown back upon the people of the free States, upon whom it 
will depend to make the plan of emigration the limits to the efforts 
in behalf of the colored people until emancipation can be mutually 
considered, is the phase the subject must assume. The two-fold 
objec't I had in view having been developed as far as possible, it 
was not necessary that I should lose any time with intelligent men 
who stood in a position to avail themselves of the useful aspect of 
the subject or ignore it if they had no disposition to apply it as the 
solution to the question for the elevation of the free colored people. 
The scale upon which it was submitted to the legislatures of New 
York and Xew Jersey will enable me to establish the non-sectional 
position upon which the claims of the race may be submitted to 
the country. The aspect it will assume in the free States will be 
very important, inasmuch as the philanthropy of the American 
people will lead to its adoption to save the colored people or it will 
prove itself insufficient for that object from the want of sincerity. 
If your Excellency will examine the subject it will be seen that the 
support of the people of the Southern States will give it the neces- 
sary force and make it precede any attempt to reach the question 
of emancipation which must be considered in connection with the 
demand for laborers in the South. If the modification of the laws 
of the several States can be carried with a view to make up the 
deficit with free labor, it would afford the necessary relief with far 
less danger than it would to seek it by opening the slave trade. 
Sooner or later this subject will develop itself to the States of the 
South and will be seen as a necessity that must be met for the relief 
of the people. To admit free labor in the Southern States whether 
colored or white, would not only be important to the planters, but 
it would be equally important to the colored people in the free 
States, who must seek a refuge Somewhere. 



30 

'' As desirous as I am for the emancipation and the elevation of 
my people, and believing that the dissolution of the Union would 
}>rec'lude the necessity of any legislation upon the subject, yet as I 
consider it a duty to humanity to urge a policy that will protect the 
iinutcent and lead to mutual efforts by the people of the United 
States to accomplish that object, I will submit it and trust to their 
wisdom for success. It would be a fatal mistake to suppose that 
tlie future of the colored j)eople in tliis country can be knoM'n from 
their past history, for in spite of the degrading position the}^ occupy 
tlicy would not fail to seize up on any opportunity that would ena- 
l»lc them to j>rove tlicir devotion to the cause of Freedom. The fact 
that the Union with the means to develop the resources, would be 
far more advantageous to the Southern States than could possibly 
]>e derived out of it, is a grave subject and cannot be ignored under 
any contingency that may occur, if the welfare of the people should 
govern the statesmen. AVithout reviewing the difficulties that 
would arise from, the necessity of a foreign policy, I will leave the 
subject, believing tliat the people Mill not be driven from their loy- 
alty l»y mere ap]trehension. By a reference to the speech made at 
•• Sleepy Hollow" by a distinguished Senator in South Carolina 
some two years since, the statement was ixiade to the effect, " That 
the symj>athy for" the free colored people "in the free States is not 
sufficient to cause any ajiprehension to the South." That is true, 
and while that address was condemned and repudiated in the South, 
yet its safety depends upon the policy embodied in it. For while 
the Senate and the House of Representatives, and the Executive of 
the United States Avill at no distant day be under the control of 
those who will be oj)])osed to the slave trade, and to the extension 
»»f slavery, and will aim to place the government where it stood at the 
••ommencement of its existence, yet from the very nature of things, 
it will l)e harmless to the South. If the purity of ^the government 
i- necessary to its existence to secure it by removing the cause of 
legislative conspiracy to sustain sectional issues, is an object that 
will commend itself to every considerate statesman of the country. 
In coimcction with this letter, 1 Mill send a copy of my pamphlet 
which contains the text of the subject in all its ramiiications, and 
I will su}»j.ly copies lor the mcinbers of the legislature as soon as 
I <;in. It is not my intention to submit to the legislature the plan 
of emigration to create a neutral position upon this subject which 



37 

may be very impor^nt to the people, until the new order of things 
are fully developed in favor of emancipation. 

• 
" Hoping that this will be considered as an object worthy of the 
attention of your Excellency and the people, it is respectfully sub- 
mitted by your obedient servant." 

" L. II. PUT^^AM." 



Looking to the objects to be obtained from the success of this 
as a national work, will preclude the necessity of seeking from any 
higher source the right to speak as by authority, and taking as the 
text, the subject by which the way to the legislature of South 
Carolina was fully prepared previous to the war. For as the sequel 
has brought with it all the consequences referred to in the appeal 
submitted as a warning by one of that proscribed class, it is impor- 
tant to confront the people at the point where the first shock to the 
Union was felt, that the remedy for the calamity that has fallen with 
equal force upon the other States of the rebellion may be applied. 

For what they failed to learn with the aid of their superior 
intelligence in the first place, they will fully comprehend from the 
reflex of the light which the minds of hlack men may emit in the 
struggle to maintain the ideas promulgated hy the framers of the 
Declaration of Independence. 

The first point of any importance that will present itself to the 
reflecting mind, will be seen in the want of appreciation and in the 
condemnation of the speech made at " Sleepy Hollow" by an ardent 
supporter of State sovereignty, and which will go very far to fix the 
impression that nothing but the stern results that have followed 
the catastrophe of the battle-field, could in the slighest degree arrest 
the designs of those who were guiding the destiny of the south with- 
out any reference to the power, and the higher laws that governs 
the universe. 



38 

For it was too true, as stated by the distiiiguished Senator of 
South Carolina, that there Avas nothing to sliow that any sympathy 
cnstidfor the colored people in the free States^ sufficient to alarm 
the Soidh, and it was from a ainiiLar conviction created in the mind 
of the writer of tlie documont that prompted him to take part in the 
elibrts to arrive at a sohition of the questions by which the country 
was ajritated, and aiming at results directly opposite to the policy 
l)v which pul)lie men were governed. 

Tlie second point is the value of the document as an indication 
of the disposition to shield from danger those who were aiming to 
peri)etuate the oppression of the colored people, and the secret his- 
torv and the magnitude of the work written for that purpose will 
fix for all time to come its grandeur and the design to guide the 
efforts for emancipation and elevation in this country. 

r>ut while the developments that will be made upon this subject 
will l)e more than sufficient to indicate the inflexible devotion of the 
author to the cause of universal liberty, yet it is proper that some 
reference should be made in this connection to other branches of 
the subject extending to the Eussian Empire, and to Dahomey in 
Africa, and will form part of the great work that must be performed 
for the benefit of the human family. 

The first is the efibrts to devise a plan to fix the relations of the 
emancipated in Eussia to the soil, and to show the fact that it was 
accomplished at the time when it could not fail to be useful, as an 
object that would merit some attention in that country. The means 
em])loyed to have the plan submitted to the Emperor, would have 
been ample in either of the two channels fixed upon for the purpose, as 
the civility of the Baron, as a member of the Legation at Washing- 
ton, was only equal to the attention given to the subject by the Ameri- 
can Minister previous to his return to St. Petersburgh. 

At the interview with the latter at the St. Nicholas Hotel in 
tlie (,'ity of New York, a full exposition was made to show the feasi- 
l)ility of elevating the emancipated above' the condition of tenants 
at will, wliich is slavery in the second degree, by secin-ing for every 
family the right in fee to homesteads on the estates of the nobles. 



39 

The reference tliat may be made to the plan as an agency to 
emancipation in the Brazillian Empire, and also in the Colonies of 
Spain, seems to be snfficient in its magnitude to make a serious im- 
pression in the minds of the people, and upon the two governments, 
from the necessity by which they will be led by the force of circum- 
stances, sooner or later to maintain the relations of the emancipated 
with the soil by a freehold interest the same as will be demanded by 
the agricultural interests in the Southern States. To those who are 
in need of information, let them seek it in the result of the transition 
of twenty millions, (20,000,000) of persons in the Eussian Empire, 
from the condition of serfs to the elevation of freemen. But while 
the plan was not published as contemplated, yet the adoption of the 
principles by the command of the Emperor will afford all the con- 
solation that could be derived from the eflect of the measures that 
will lead to a complete revolution in the social relations of the 
peasantry of that country as the agricultural class, and upon the 
unborn millions who will enjoy the blessings it will confer upon 
them. 

The communication written to the Mhiister of Foreign Affairs 
for the purpose of submitting to the government of her Majesty the 
Queen of England, the plan for the suppression of the slave trade, 
and the annual custom of the King of Dahomey, with an elaborate 
exposition of the views, and indicating the means by which the en- 
tire people could be led to conform to the principles of civilization, 
and at the same time avoid the system of absorption that would 
tend to make the country an English Colony, will fully repay for 
the labor it cost. 

The declaration made in the British Parliament by Lord John 
Hussell the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to the effect, that the in- 
fluence of England was ample to control the King, opened the way 
for the attempt to show the necessity of employing it in behalf of 
civilization in the section of the continent of Africa, which was 
known to be the great mart of the slave trade. 

In looking at the subject of the labor to promote the happiness 
of mankind, let us pause here and contemplate upon the grandeur 
and the effect of tlie change upon the social condition of society 
from the adoption of the homestead system in other countries, where 



42 

APPENDIX. 

The intention is to revise and enlarge the review by adding to 
it a document on the tinancial policy of the nation as a criticism 
on the subject of specie payment. The want of a comprehensive 
plan for the management of the question cannot fail to create the 
impression that it has completely overwhelmed the ideas of those 
who are struirirlins to reach a solution that will settle the basis for 
the currency of the country. This is a grave subject, inasmucb as 
it involves the integrity of the government of the United States 
through the measures of the statesmen who must show that they 
are equal to the requirements as managers. 

They are hound to hrlng to an end the policy hy which gold and 
itUver were transformed from a currency into a commodity for 
ftpeculation, loith the Treasury Department as the centre. It must be 
shown that the exigency that forced the greenbacks into use has 
ceased and the system fixed upon for the withdrawal of these pro- 
mises and if not, then a fiscal agency should be established to sus- 
tain it upon a specie basis. 

While the theory of the Ohio statesman in favor of the exten- 
sion of the issue of this circulating medium is sustained by the 
news advanced in the same direction by the members of the House 
from Massaclnisetts and other leading minds of the country, and is 
not without its plausible features, and yet the fatal mistake they 
have made In' not making a distinction between the provisional use 
of the greenbacks and the want of a permanent system by which 
the iiiitioii may separate its financial management from the com- 
mercial interest as involved in its connection Avith the JSTational 
Banks, by the organization of the necessary fiscal agency to sustain 
it. therefore, tliey must tail. 

Thr innocenry and the earnesi/ness imth lohich the sidjject has 
hcen suhiiittrd to the 2>uhlic seems to he wholly inade<piate for the 
display (f thr hrdliant ideas that should emanate from the minds 
<f men. of genius^ inasmuch as the aAm is to issue a^n amount of 
grecuhacJiS f((r greater than it woidd he in the 2)0wer of the govern- 
ment to control 'tvith any degree of honesty. 

The next object of the enlargement will be for the production 
of letters tliat were wi-itten to prominent men with the view to 



43 

bring out some action in behalf of the plan to promote free labor 
in the Southern States in connection with the efforts to make emi- 
gration a national question. The labor expended to make the sub- 
ject worthy of the attention of the' managers of the colonization 
society and to carry it out through its agency will of itself present 
a record that will be as grand as it will be important to the public 
and to the class of friends who gave it their support. Organized 
as that institution was to represent the philanthropy of the nation 
in behalf of the colored people and under the control of some of 
the ablest minds of the country, and having assumed the position 
as a promoter of the cause, it is necessary that my relation with it 
should become the subject of criticism by the public. It will be 
seen that the danger of the absorption of the society by the opera- 
tion of the plan to make agriculture the basis of emigration, and 
the inroad upon the policy by which it was governed from its exis- 
tence was fully developed upon a scale that completely neutralized 
the design of those who had given it their sanction and support. 
The cause of the hardship suffered by the emigrants seems to have 
been a subject of very little moment to the managers, or else the 
necessity for relief was concealed from them by the reports made 
from time to time in reference to the real condition of things in 
Liberia. 

The proposition to establish a farm in that comitry to culti- 
vate coffee, cotton, rice and indigo to demonstrate the necessity 
of an entire change in their plan of emigi'ation was carried into 
operation with their knowledge by sending out a person witli 
a full supply of agricultural implements with ample provision 
for his support. To make it the personal property of myself and 
associate I propose to establish one hundred ten acre farms for as 
many families (free from any charge to them) out of the annual 
product under the direction or supervision of the board of managers. 
But the want of a comprehensive idea of the magnitude of the 
plan and its purpose at the outset was their misfortune, and the 
means resorted to to withdraw this influence as the remedy, was not 
only against their genius but it was a betrayal of the weakness in the 
management of the colonization society. The importance of this 
discovery, in connection with the result of the examination carefully 
made, into the commercial operations carried on with Liberia, was 
fully considered and the means adopted to make it known to the 



. !a„ 



41 



public. It vva. the comn.eneeu.ent of the work to d^ u.^er its 
•ouudatiou and prepare the way tor the absorption ol the eiitiie 
:~.i:n by tie etiort. to establish a board of ^^0 Comin^t^ 
i,;everv State, under the supervision of the legislatures with he 
(ioveruors as .^#V/<> members, to sustain emig-ration to Ah ca 
,,ith the support of Congress. This was the plan to establish 
thirtv-one districts through the agency ot the government o 
I iberia to rei-resent for six hundred families in each ot the several 
States, and to cost six million dollars ($(;,» '00,000). 

The plan was not only submitted to the managers of the New York 
State Colonization Society, an.l was the subject of debate during 
an entire sitting; but it wa. transmitted to the annual meeting o± 
the board of directors of the American Colonization Society m 
Wa^hincrton, with an elaborate exposition of the commercial policy. 
These documents in effect were regular bomb-shells, and especially 
to the new delegation, and was the occasion of the most exciting 
session ever held bv that body. As the adoption of the plan would 
have been the end of the New York board ..f managers, the cause 
of its resistance will be worthy of the most serious attention. The 
most important resuh was the abandonment of the commercial 
oiKiration, as it was carried on in the name of the Colonization 
Swcietv. which shows the disposition of the Board to shield its honor. 
and the reputation of its members against the doings of its agents. 

This reference to the secret history is to show that the society in 
this State wai^'v/z-mn oti h,/ the laic of , self -j> reservation to struggle 
for /^ txUtmrer It enables me to assume the position to defy the 
"members of the IJoard of Managers individually and collectively, 
to make the attempt to occupy any other ground than that. For- 
titied as I an. behind the three hundred pages of documents with 
twelve circulars hid away in the archives of the Board of Managers 
and of the hoard of Directors of the American Colonization Society 
it is the point to which they must look. 

The conli<lence reposed in me by friends of my race, and the 
progre>s and the blessings bestowed up(jn me, good men were duly 
clierihlicd, and by which I was sustained in the darkest hours of 
the Htrnggle to (»vereome all op])ositi()n and stand before the coun- 
try afi a worthy rei)re-entative of the colored people, and an honor- 
able citizen of the liepublic. 



